1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a lifting roof or sliding-lifting roof for vehicles with a rigid cover, which can be lifted and lowered or lifted, lowered and retracted to open and close a roof opening provided in a stationary roof panel, and with strip-shaped lateral shields, which are attached projecting outward and downward from the cover for at least partial covering of edge gaps, which are formed between the lateral edges of the cover and the roof panel, on both sides of the cover, when the cover is lifted.
2. Description of Related Art
A vehicle roof of this type is known from German Patent Application No. 37 41 902 A1, in which plastic lateral shields with a sword-like outside contour are provided which are rigid near the cover and flexible near their free end as a result of differing cross-section areas. Also, from U.S. Pat. No. 4,709,959, lateral shields for sliding-lifting roofs are known, whose lower edge area is flexible and consists of a flat rubber or plastic strip, while the upper part of the shields is preferably rigid. As a whole, rigid lateral shields are known from, among others, U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,089,557 and 4,018,476, and UK Patent GB 2 212 768.
With the use of rigid lateral shields, the level of the shield, and thus also its action (especially as regards the aesthetics and noise reduction when the cover is raised), is limited by the overall height of the roof or of the roof frame. Above all, with vehicle roofs with a flat construction, this entails problems that can only partially be :removed by making the lower end of the shield flexible.